Blackberry and apple jam recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Jam Jelly and Preserves | 237 comments
It was Anne Mary that pointed out that apple and blackberry jam would be full of blackberry pips.
“They’d get stuck in your teeth and drive you mad. Stick to bramble jelly.”
I love jelly. We make loads of jelly every year. More often than not it is used as a base for a sauce rather than dolloped on a plate of roast lamb or pork.
Imagine my delight when I found this recipe for Blackberry and Apple Jam in my aunt’s ancient handwritten cookbook. As it is sieved there are no seeds and the jam is delicious, spread on hot buttered toast in the morning.
Blackberry and Apple Jam recipe
Ingredients:
- 1k (roughly 2lb) of blackberries
- 350g (12ozs) of apples (eating apples, windfalls are fine)
- Water
- White granulated sugar
Method:
- Core and roughly chop the apples (skin on).
- Put the apples, cores and blackberries in a large preservaing pan or large heavy bottomed saucepan. Add just enough water to cover and simmer until soft.
- Sieve the softened fruit and weigh the sieved pulp (discard the skins and seeds left in the sieve). Add 450g (1lb) of sugar for each 450g (1lb) of sieved pulp.
- Put sieved pulp and sugar into a large heavy bottomed saucepan (or preserving pan) and heat very gently until the sugar has dissolved.
- Bring the jam to the boil and continue to boil very rapidly for about 8-10 minutes until the jam reaches setting point. (What is setting point? See tricks and tips below).
- When the jam has set, carefully pour into warm, sterilised jars, using a ladle or small jug (How to sterilise jars? See tricks and tips below)
- Cover the jars with tight fitting screw-top lids, or waxed disks and cellophane pot covers (waxed disks, wax facing downwards and plastic covers secured with plastic bands).
- Label when cold and store in a cool, dark place, away from damp.
Tricks and Tips:
- Jam “set” or “setting point”:
Getting the right set can be tricky. I have tried using a jam thermometer but find it easier to use the following method. Before you start to make the jam, put a couple of plates in the fridge so that the warm jam can be drizzled onto a cold plate (when we make jam we often forget to return the plate to the fridge between tests, using two plates means that you have a spare cold plate). Return the plate to the fridge to cool for approx two minutes. It has set when you run your finger through it and leave a crinkly track mark. If after two minutes the cooled jam is too liquid, continue to boil the jam, testing it every few minutes until you have the right set. The jam is far more delicious if it is slightly runny. - Sterilising the jars:
We collect jars all year round for our jelly, chutney and jam making sessions. I try to soak off labels and store the clean jars and metal plastic coated screw-top lids in an accessible place. The sterilising method that we used is simple. Just before making the jam, I quickly wash and rinse the jars and place them upside down in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 160c/140c for fan assisted. When the oven has reached the right temperature I turn off the heat. The jars will stay warm for quite a while. I only use plastic lined lids for preserves as the all-metal lids can go rusty. I boil these for five minutes in water to sterilise them. If I use Le Parfait jars, I do the same with the rubber rings.
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I tried your fabulous recipe for the first time tonight, I usually use the French jam making method (more of a conserve) where you just use fruit and an equal ammount of sugar, but my son isn’t keen on the ‘bits’
Tonights jam is still too hot to try but looks like it is setting nicely and is the most beautiful colour, I used more quantity, 3lb blackberries and about 1lb apples and made the mistake of using the juice too, so ended up with over 9 jars!!! Hopefully my son will like this one, thanks for sharing it
Trish x
Hi Karen
Yes you can freeze the apples until later there are loads of different ways to do this.
See here for appropriate advice
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Food-and-Drink/Question446682.html
If you want to use them all for this recipe, you don’t need to peel them, just core them.
Hi there. I have been given a huge bag of apples and would love to turn them into jam – I am not in a position to do this right now so can I freeze them and use them later? How should I go about doing this and would I need to make any changes to the recipe? Many thanks for such a great service!!
Hi Elaine
Pureeing the cooked fruit and then sieving should work, you may need a bit more lemon juice to help with the set.
You can taste the fruit and sugar mixture and add more lemon juice if it’s too sweet before bringing the fruit to the boil.
Thanks for your feedback.
Hello Kate (uk)
Thanks a lot for this method. I use the sieve method but hanging the muslin from a cupboard door is a new one for me!
Hello Fran
This is just the sort of feedback that makes my day. Making preserves can be such fun, especially if children are involved.
What fantastic jam!
I have just finished making a batch of this with my 5 year old and my 3 year old, the first jam I’ve ever made!
We picked the berries this afternoon, loads of squidgy ones and bits of bramble got in, but it didn’t matter, I didn’t even weigh the fruit, just guessed and threw a couple of roughly chopped apples in, cores and all.
After a simmer, push through a sieve and rapid boil with loads of sugar, the children and I were eating it before it had even cooled!
It is absolutely “Yummy”, my 3 year old was amazed we could have made it from berries she picked from a bush!
Aren’t innocence and first experiences just great!
Thank you!
Elaine, rather than sieving, if you get some muslin,cut a generous 12″ or so square out, pour boiling water over it to sterilize it. Then place your sieve over the top of a bowl or the saucepan you are going to use to boil the jam.Lay the muslin over the sieve, so it drapes over the sides. Put your cooked fruit into the muslin in the sieve, the juice will drip out into the bowl/pan below.If you mash it up with a potato masher before you sieve it, even better. Once most of the juice is out, gather up the muslin edges and tie it into a ‘pudding’ shape with some string then hang that from something like a cupboard handle above the bowl/saucepan on your kitchen worktop, leave it over night. All the rest of the juice will drip out and you need do no squeezing.
Ive just made my blackberry & apple jelly, & I did put a bit of the juice in great results allthough a little bit too much sugar, but you can still taste the blackberry & apple, & it set really well. Thanks so much for your advice as I was a novice jam/preserve maker. Because I have carpol tunnel syndrome my hands & wrists seize up during the sieving process may just peel, core & de-seed the apples next time then puree & sieve (not too much effort there !!) would this work ??. Again many thanks for your advice, I,ll be back for more !! 😀
Hi Elaine
No the juice doesn’t go into the pan – just the sugar and the seived pulp.
Ive got a lot of juice with my apple & blackberry mixture is that ok, & does that go into the pan ????
Hi Elaine
I don’t see why not.